WRITING AND STRUCTURE OF A FINAL YEAR PROJECT REPORT

The importance of writing good technical/project reports is emphasised, and an outline scheme is
proposed for use by undergraduates in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The purpose
of each section of the report is explained and a method for approaching the writing is given. It is
hoped that by following these guidelines students will develop good report writing skills and
produce a good report of their final year project.
1. INTRODUCTION
In addition to the analytical and design skills which are needed by the student to become a
successful engineer, a number of other skills, known as transferable skills, will be required
throughout their career. Amongst these, communication skills have been identified as being of
primary importance. The ability to communicate your ideas or findings to others is as important
as the knowledge itself.
The purpose of a report is to convey information factually, briefly, and clearly. Brevity is
important; a report is not an essay. Clarity is achieved by subdividing the report into headed
sections each with a definite part to play. There is no single "best" way to present a report.
However, in most organisations a set format may be accepted. It will be in the interest of students
that one particular form should be adhered to in the Mechanical Engineering Department. The
structure here is appropriate to any technical report, but may be modified based on the kind of
project to be reported.
2. STRUCTURE OF A REPORT
There are five main parts to any report, and each of these has a different purpose:

Summary or Abstract

Introduction

Core or body

Conclusion

References

In addition there may be appendices attached to the end of the report. Below is a brief outline of
each section.
2.1 Summary/Abstract

An abstract is a condensed version of a longer piece of writing that highlights the major points
covered, concisely describes the content and scope of the writing, and reviews the writing's
contents in abbreviated form. In as few words as possible the abstract/summary, which will head
up the report, lets the reader know the subject of the report, where the information has been
obtained, and the key findings. Abstracts/Summaries are seldom longer than 200 words.
Types of Abstracts
There are two types of abstracts: informational and descriptive.
Informational Abstracts

communicate contents of reports

include purpose, methods, scope, results, conclusions, and recommendations

highlight essential points

are shortfrom a paragraph to a page or two, depending upon the length of the report

allow readers to decide whether they want to read the report

Descriptive Abstracts

tell what the report contains

include purpose, methods, scope, but NOT results, conclusions, and recommendations

are always very short usually under 100 words

introduce subject to readers, who must then read the report to learn study results

Qualities of a Good Abstract

An effective abstract

uses one or more well-developed paragraphs, which are unified, coherent, concise, and
able to stand alone

uses an introduction-body-conclusion structure in which the parts of the report are

discussed in this order: purpose, findings, conclusions, recommendations

follows strictly the chronology of the report

provides logical connections between material included

adds no new information but simply summarizes the report

is intelligible to a wide audience

2.2 Introduction

The material which you are about to present in the main body of the report must be set in
context. Questions which the reader will ask include:

why is this work being presented?

where does it fit in with the World of Engineering?

how does it relate to other work in the field?

what are the aims and objectives of the project?

2.3 Core/Body
The core or body is the main part of the report and provide all of the results and discussions
which someone who wished to examine the work in detail would require. For example, a report
on an experimental project would include:

theory

experimental method

results

discussion

However, a report on, say, an industrial visit would probably only have a single core section.
2.4 Conclusions
The conclusions should be a condensed version of the intervening sections giving the key
findings of the work. It should be closely related to the objectives which were stated in the
introduction.

2.5 References
References section of the report is a list of relevant texts as a source of information that reader
may decide to refer for better understanding.
2.6 Appendices
If there is information which is not of immediate use to the reader, or for some other reason is
difficult to incorporate in the body of the report, then it should be put in an appendix. Typical
appendices are:

long mathematical derivations

large design drawings (but key diagrams should be put in or beside the relevant text)

3. HOW TO BEGIN
Write down the headings of your report and note, briefly, what the content of each section is to
be.
Start with the introduction. Ideally, you will have done background reading on your project
before commencing the work, visiting the institution, attending the lecture, etc.. If you have, you
will certainly have gained more from the experience. Carrying out the project will normally
encourage you to read further into the background literature on the subject. All of the information
which you have gathered should go into the introduction. It should naturally follow that most of
your references are generated during the writing of the introduction. Finish the introduction
with the aims of the project.
The core of the report may now be written, with as much detail as is required for the reader to
understand everything which was done. Appendices are generated during the writing of the core
of the report. The conclusions will then wind up the report, by stating concisely the most
important aspects of the results and discussion. The conclusions are not new material. They are
simply a condensed form of the earlier sections. Ideally, someone who wishes to become familiar
with your work without knowing the fine detail should be able to do so by reading only the
introduction and the conclusions.
Finally, the abstract or summary may be written. This is not new material either, and should be
able to be written by taking the key points from the introduction and the conclusions.
4. LAYOUT OF THE REPORT
The purpose of structuring the report is to make it accessible to likely readers. The purpose of
layout is to enhance the ease with which the reader can read and understand the report. With

currently available word processors it is possible to use different methods and features to
enhance the report (e.g. bold characters and bullet points). To bring about uniformity in the final
year reports, the following are suggested:
Paper: the paper type and format to be used for the report should be international standard A4
paper size (297x210mm)
Font size: 12-point typeface for all preliminary pages, table and figure captions, text,
appendices, references and page numbers.
Font type: Times New Roman
Line spacing: double-spaced
Margin size: 4cm on the left and 2.5cm on the right. The top and bottom margins should be 2.5
cm.
Pagination: All pages must be numbered concurrently and centred at the bottom of the page.
Each chapter should begin on a separate page. Preliminary pages (pages before the main text)
should be numbered with lower case Roman numerals beginning with (ii) following the title page
and centred at the bottom. Pages of main body of the report should be numbered with Arabic
numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.).
4.1 Diagrams and Tables
Diagrams/figures and tables should be numbered and captioned to reflect the content. They
should be numbered according to their section and placed as close as possible to the text which
refers to them. Diagrams should be numbered separately as Figure 3.1, Figure 3.2, etc and tables
as Table 3.1, Table 3.2, etc. Diagram/figure labels should be places below. In the case of tables
the labels should be placed above.
4.2 Equations
Equations should also be numbered sequentially, by section, and referred to in the text.
Remember that long derivations should be placed in an appendix.
4.3 References
References should appear in the text in one of two forms, depending on whether the author's
name crops up naturally, e.g.
According to Smith (1955) the cart comes before the horse.
or
It is well known that the horse comes before the cart (Saddler and Wright, 1923).

If the publication has more than two authors then the form (Baldwin et al, 1993) should be used.
In the reference section these would appear in alphabetical order as:
Baldwin, M, Turpin, E and Wilton, D, 1993, Long-Term Stability of Soap Films, Wetherfield
Publishers Ltd.
Saddler A, and Wright B, 1923, "Design rules for cartwrights", J Horse-drawn Vehicles, 26,
pp104-190.
Smith, J.T., 1955, "Philosophical misconceptions", Phil Tran, 106, pp 23-24.
Edth, F.K., "About abstract writing", www.trans_data.org/info/abtract-00322.html, Date
accessed: 22/04/2008.
Note that a book or journal has each word beginning with upper case; a paper title appears in
quotes and does not have capitals; and abbreviations are used for common words such as J Journal, and Tran - Transactions. The bold figures indicate the volume of the journal. Page
numbers should always be noted and given. References from the internet should include the site
address as well as the path and name of document. This should be given only in the references.
The citation in the text should give only the author/organisation and year. For example, in the
example: www.trans_data.org/info/abtract-00322.html; www.trans_data.org is the website, and
/info/abtract-00322.html gives the path and name of document. The date on which the
information was accessed should also be given.
5. CONCLUSION
1. Good reporting is as important as good engineering.
2. The purpose of the report is to inform the reader.
3. Good layout helps the reader.
4. The abstract should be a self-contained guide to the contents
5. The introduction and conclusion should be sufficient to inform the reader of the main
outcomes of the report.
6. The writing of a report is a straight-forward exercise, which will occur naturally if the above
guidelines are followed.

APPENDIX 1
General Format/Structure of the Report

Title page
Acceptance/declaration page
Abstract
Dedication (optional)
Acknowledgement
List of Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of symbols (Nomenclature)
Chapter 1:

Introduction

Chapters 2 4: Main Body of Report (structure and Content depends on kind of work and should
be as prescribed by the supervisor). They may include Literature Review, Methodology and
Results.
Chapter 5:

Conclusion and Recommendation

References
Appendix (if any)